Los Angeles Open final

IM Andranik Matikozyan took clear first in the 2009 LAO with 4.5. out of 5, defeating IMs Tim Taylor and Enrico Sevillano, and drawing in the final round with GM Melikset Khachiyan. Tied for 2nd a half-point behind were Khachiyan, IM Jack Peters, and master Alexandre Kretchetov. Both of the lower sections also saw clear winners, as Gautam Nipanakar score 5-0 in the Premier, and Ishan Bose-Pyne notched 4.5 in the Amateur. In the Hexes, Henry Castro, Ray Wong, and Vincent Nguyen tied for first with 2.5.

Complete standings for all sections are posted here. Also available are games in PGN format or in Java viewer.

Prize Winners

Open

1st: IM Andranik Matikozyan, 4½-½; 2nd-4th: GM Melikset Khachiyan, IM Jack Peters, Alexandre Kretechtov, 4-1; 5th/1st U2400: Tim Taylor, Garnik Baghdasaryan, 3-1; 2nd U2400: Gregg Small, Ryan Porter, Eugene Yanayt, Christian Tanaka, 3-2; 1st U2200: Vadim Kudryavtsev, 3-1; 2nd-3rd U2200: David Adelberg, Robert Akopian, John Funderburg, Konstantin Kavutskiy, 3-2.

Premier

1st: Gautam Nipanikar, 5-0; 2nd-3rd: Willis Kim, Yusheng Xia, 4-1; 1st U1800: Nathan Ogata, 4-1; 2nd-3rd U2400: Bill Conrad, Babken Krbashian, Richard Varela, 3½-1½; 1st U1600: Annie Wang, 3½-1½; 2nd-3rd U1600: Numan Abdul-Majeeb, Joshua Sheng, Scott Xue, 2½-2½.

Amateur

1st: Ishan Bose-Pyne, 4½-½; 2nd: John Gardner, 3½-1½; 3rd: Chantelle Field, Beverley Woolsey, 3-2; U1200: Jouaquin Perkins, Michael Tornabane, 2½-2½; Unrated: Joshua Miler, 3-2.

Scholastic Open: Stephanie Shao, 5-0. Scholastic Reserve: Alice Salvaryan, 5-0. Hexes: Henry Castro. Ray Wong, Vincent Nguyen, 2½-½.

Los Angeles Open, day 2

As the last round began, IM Andranik Matikozyan held the lead with 4-1, and faced GM Melikset Khachiyan with 3.5. The two drew after a brief struggle, leaving Vadim Kudryavtsev the only one with a chance to catch Matikozyan. That won't be easy, as he faces Alexandre Kretchetov with Black.

The one-day LAO Scholastics proved a good day for the ladies, as Stephanie Shao scored 5-0 in the Open, and Alice Salvaryan swept the Reserve. Forty-four competed. Full standings are posted here, and will be updated as sections finish.

Los Angeles Open, day 1

After the merge, five players are tied for he lead with 2-0: GM Melikset Khachiyan, IMs Andranik Matikozyan, Jack Peters and Tim Taylor, and Senior Master Alexandre Kretchetov. IM Enrico Sevillano is half a point behind after a draw with young star Eric Zhang. Standings are posted here and will be updated throughout the weekend. Pairings will be posted as time permits. (Photos: Kretchetov faces Khachiyan, while Taylor battles Matikzyan.)

Michael Brown – IM Tim Taylor
Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles 2009
[A85] DUTCH DEFENSE
1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bf4 Bb4 5.e3 b6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.f3 Nh5 8.Nge2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 0–0 11.0–0 Qg5 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.c5 Kh8 14.Rae1 Rfb8 15.d5 Na5 16.Qa4 e5 17.Nh3 Qe7 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bxf5 Bxd5 20.Qxd7 Qxd7 21.Bxd7 Rd8 22.Bf5 Bxa2 23.Rf2 Bg8 24.f4 Nc4 25.Rf3 Ra3 26.Rc1 g6 27.Bb1 Nd2 28.fxe5 Ra1 29.Ng5 Nxf3+ 30.gxf3 h6 31.Ne4 Ba2 32.Nf6 Kg7 33.Kg2 Rxb1 34.Rxb1 Bxb1 35.f4 c5 0–1

Elena Popova – GM Melikset Khachiyan
Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles 2009
[B73] SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Kh1 d5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.d6 Qxd6 12.Ncb5 Qb8 13.c4 Bd7 14.f4 Rd8 15.Qe1 Nc6 16.Rd1 Ng4 17.Bg1 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 e5 19.h3 exd4 20.hxg4 Re8 21.Qf2 Bc6 22.Bd3 b6 23.f5 Re3 24.Qh4 Qg3 25.Qxg3 Rxg3 26.Rfe1 Rxg4 27.Re2 Bh6 28.Bh2 Be3 29.Rf1 Re8 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Rf6 Re6 32.Rf1 Kg7 33.b4 Re8 34.b5 Bb7 35.c5 bxc5 0–1

Los Angeles Open, day 0

AS the 3-day schedule begins, we have 82 players, including one GM and four IMs. More are expected tomorrow for the 2-day schedule. Standings will be posted here throughout the weekend, and pairings will be posted as time permits.

Kotrc-Weigl, Vidni 1912

Not every great game has a great name. This little gem deserves to be better known.

Kotrc - Weigl
Vidni, 1912
C55 MAX LANGE ATTACK

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. 0–0 Bc5 6. e5 d5

The Max Lange Attack leads to exciting play, but it has two drawbacks -- it's been analyzed to death, and it can't arise unless both players agree to it.

7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Kf8

A rare sideline, seeking to avoid the long variations arising after 8. ... Be6.

9. Bg5 gxf6 10. Bh6+ Kg8 11. Nc3

The back-rank weakness allows the Knight to enter play quickly. If 11. ... dxc3 12. Qxd8+ Nxd8+ 13. Re8+ Bf8 14. Rxf8 mate.

11. ... Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Ne4 Bb6

(Diagram)

14. Nxd4!

The fun begins. White initially gets only one minor piece for his Queen, but his superior development, plus the useless Rook at h8, put him on top.

14. ... Bxd1

The alternative 14. ... Nxd4 15. Qxh5 f5 16. Bg5 would avoid the brilliancy but wouldn't save the game.

15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Raxd1 Qe7 17. Ng3 Qc5 18. Re3 f5

Hoping to weasel out with 19. Rde1 f6, but ...

19. Ne4 1–0

Too many threats! If 19. ... fxe4 20 Rg3+ and mate next, or 19. ... Qe5 20. Rg3+ Qxg3 21. Nf3 mate.

Mote, beam

Today on her blog, Susan Polgar wrote:

"I first learned about the world of blogging on May 23, 2005 from my friend Amy. Today, the 19,000th post was made.

How things started and my vision:

Chess news used to be monopolized by a few major chess media sources. It was appalling for me to see news about chess tournaments and events published sometimes weeks and months later or not at all. To make matters worse, some tournaments, organizers, and players were blackballed because of dirty chess politics or other petty reasons.

This is why I decided to take on the “establishments” and started this blog over 4 years ago. I want to give the “little guys” a voice. If organizers want to promote his / her events, just send me the announcements, updates, or reports, and I will publish them.

I am happy to see countless chess blogs and websites popping up in the last few years. If players unite and do the right things for chess, we will succeed in making our wonderful game a lot more visible globally.

The “typical” approach to chess in the past few decades is not working. It is time to “rock the boat” and push through new and refreshing ideas to make our game more appealing for the media, the public, and young people, especially girls.

People often tell me that chess is not attractive or exciting enough for the media or the general public. Wrong! Just come to Lubbock, Texas and you can see how chess has exploded in this city in just 2 years. Look at St. Louis, MO, Fresno, CA, and Bellevue, WA. Look at what the AF4C or Chess in the Schools have done. Those are just a few of many chess success stories.

Many of the long time and stagnant chess establishments are now “irrelevant”. We can succeed if we move ahead in the right direction instead of just sitting still and procrastinate. It is time for action. A special thank you to all of you for your continued support!"

Sigh. Susan has done a terrific job with her blog, and I highly recommend it. She’s also done a lot of good things with SPICE and Texas Tech. Why can’t she be content with highlighting her very real achievements, rather than searching for enemies? This sort of paranoid approach – “There are those who …”, conveniently unnamed but tagged with plenty of negative adjectives – only makes her look small. “It is not enough to succeed; all others must be seen to fail.” Polgar and Truong are not the only ones in the chess world with that attitude, but they are among the minority who could have succeeded on their own merits. It’s a shame.

Lewitzky - Marshall, Breslau 1912

Though not quite the equal of Lasker or Capablanca, Frank Marshall was for many years one of the top half-dozen players in the world, and a formidable tournament competitor. His aggressive attitude, combinational flair, and imagination produced a great number of brilliant games like this one. It is said that after the spectacular conclusion, the spectators showered the board with gold coins. Another version, though, is that wealthy Russian emigres had bet on their compatriot Lewitzky, and were paying off their losses ...

Lewitzky - Marshall
Breslau, 1912
FRENCH DEFENSE, Marshall Variation
1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 c5
A double-edged system which Marshall played with success, for he did not hesitate to accept a positional weakness in exchange for tactical chances.
4. Nf3 Nc6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Bg5 0-0 9. dxc5 Be6 10. Nd4 Bxc5 11. Nxe6
A dubious idea; Black obtains strong central pawns and an open f-file, and White will never have time to exploit the potentially weak pawn at e6.
11. ... fxe6 12. Bg4 Qd6 13. Bh3 Rae8 14. Qd2?!
Now Black obtains a clear advantage. The defensive 14. a3 was correct.
14. ... Bb4 15. Bxf6 Rxf6 16. Rad1
White had to meet the threats of both ... Nf6-e4 and ... d5-d4, but now Black’s Rooks become very active.
16. ... Qc5 17. Qe2
Embarking on what he believes to be an exchanging combination, but Marshall has calculated more deeply. Better was 17. a3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Qxc3 19. bxc3, though Black stands clearly better in the endgame.
17. ... Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3 19. Rxd5 Nd4 20. Qh5
White had seen this far -- on 20. Qe5? Nf3+! 21. gxf3 Rg6+ wins. Correct, however, was 20. Qe4, and if 20. … Rf4 21. Qe5 the position remains unclear. Now if 20. ... g6 21. Qe5 is playable, but ...
20. ... Ref8 21. Re5
Perhaps White had planned 21. Rc5, overlooking 21. ... Rxf2! (22. Rxf2 Qe1+, or 22. g3 Ne2+ 23. Kh1 Rxf1+).
21. ... Rh6 22. Qg5
On 22. Qg4, 22. ... Nf3+, discovering on the undefended Rook at e5, would win routinely.
22. ... Rxh3 23. Rc5

(Diagram)

Not 23. gxh3? Nf3+. Now White hopes for something like 23. ... Qb4 24. Rc7 g6 25. Qe5, but Black has other plans.
23. ... Qg3!, White resigns
The Queen is en prise three ways but cannot be captured -- 24. fxg3 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Rxf1 mate, 24. hxg3 Ne2 mate, or 24. Qxg3 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Nxg3+ 26. Kg1 Nxf1, with an extra piece.